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Jordan was there. Nigeria too, along with Serbia, Malaysia and of course the BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

While the upper echelons are still dominated by the traditional Western powerhouses (the top 25, for example, contains institutions from just four countries: the US, the UK, Canada and Switzerland), many so-called “emerging economies” have recognised the importance of a strong higher education sector, and they are determined to established one.

In Russia, for example, Vladimir Putin has launched an ambitious plan, Project 5-100, that aims to place five Russian universities in the world’s top 100 by 2020. In August, China announced plans to boost the research base of its top nine universities, aiming to get six universities into the leading group of universities globally – again, by 2020.

You could argue that the power shift is already happening. In this year’s rankings, China has 21 universities in the top 600 and 37 in the top 800. Seventeen institutions from Brazil make the list, with the same number from India.

Russia is a standout performer. Although it may have fewer top 800 institutions (13) than Brazil or India, more make the higher ranks (eight break the top 600).

However, challenges remain. India’s top performer, for example, sits in the 251-300 category. Brazil’s number one is in the same category. And although two Chinese institutions make the top 50, no others break the top 200.

The BRICS rankings recognise that some universities in developing countries will not have research systems as mature as those of the developed world, and may not be as well integrated with the primarily English-language global research publishing system. The methodology is tweaked to reflect this.

However, as emerging economies continue to make progress in the overall world rankings, it might only be a matter of time before such considerations are no longer required.